Liu Xiang left the birds nest this morning in Beijing, amidst a chorus of nothing. The Chinese superstar who was pressured and poised to be a potential gold medal winner for China, if healthy, failed to complete Round 1 of the 110 hurdles out of lane 2.

Closed circuit TV followed Xiang's every movement from the warm-up track, to under the grandstands, and then into the starting blocks.

Despite appearing to be in pain on the warm-up track, Xiang continued over to the underneath the grandstands to rest and receive his hip numbers for Round 1. When television showed him going over a practice hurdle, you could tell he was favoring his achilles. He cleared it easily but went back over to the bench to sit, in discomfort.

Upon getting in line with the other 110H participants to begin the walk out to the track, Liu broke out, walked over to a soft-mat hanging on the wall and began to kick it repeatedly with emotion. The outburst under the grandstands was sudden, and shocked many of the Chinese volunteers who were helping other athletes in the same area. All froze, startled by what they had seen.

Despite that outburst, Xiang continued into the track. When his section of athletes entered the track, the crowd roared. Defeaning, they launched into ovation when Xiang's name was called. When the group was told to get set into their blocks, Xiang looked rattled. He was the last person to put his head down and never did look comfortable. In fact, he took so long to settle, it was surprising the officials didn't bring everyone back up.

Once down and assumingly ready, the gun went off and a false start was immediately issued, sending everyone screeching to a hault. For those who have had achilles injuries, the motion of extreme starting and stopping proved to be too much for Xiang who limped in agony and immediately ripped off his hip numbers.

He turned around and walked straight over his blocks, grabbed his bag, and began the long walk to the track exit. 90+ thousand Chinese fans immediately fell silent. Slow-motion replays showed fans, eyes-wide open and some crying, stunned.

Close-circuit TV picked up Xiang re-entering the warmup area under the grandstands as he went over to a far wall and sat down, alone. The same volunteers who earlier watched him kick the padded wall, had no idea what to do. In a matter of seconds, 20+ volunteers in white outfits hovered around a shaken Xiang who had his head in his hands. A few bent down beside him to try and talk to him when several others grabbed some pads to shield the camera from view.

TV cut to a shot of Xiang's coach, who earlier in the day, posted on Xiang's website that an inflamed achilles was bothering his athlete. His coach was in the front row near the 110H straight-away staring straight ahead. Stunned and motionless, he failed to even blink before television cut away to the race Liu would not be in.

Many fans stood up and began to leave the stadium. The race, now without its fiercest competitor, went on without a hitch.

This will mark the lowest point for the Chinese so far in the 2008 Summer games. Yao Ming and Liu Xiang are idolized as larger-than-life in the communist nation, and losing a gold-medal favorite to injury, in Round 1, without a finish or start, will be devastating to country moral.

 -Kevin Danaher

*Olympic organizers initially put out a statement saying Liu had suffered a hamstring injury. His coach said his hamstring was fine.